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e-Calculusis a Calculus I tutorial written in TeX and converted to the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Features include verbose discussion of topics, typeset quality mathematics, user interactivity in the form of multiple choice quizzes, in-line examples and exercises with complete solutions, and pop-up graphics.

e-Calculus is viewed in the PDF format. This requires that you have Acrobat Reader 3.0, which you can obtain by clicking on the Get Adobe Reader icon. The tutorial will not function correctlyunless you have Version 3.0 (or higher).

For the system to work properly, the Acrobat Reader must work as a plug-in to your Browser. When viewing a pdf file through your browser, the Acrobat Reader should appear within the browser window, not as a separate window. If the automated installation program for the Acrobat Reader does not put its plug-in into the correct folder, you must do it yourself. Below are some instructions for doing just that.

For Win3.x/95/NT. If you are using Netscape, you must move the file nppdf??.dll (nppdf16.dll or nppdf32.dll) into the `plugins' subdirectory (folder) of the Netscape program.

For the Mac. Copy the file PDFViewer from the Web Browser plugin subfolder to the Acrobat folder to Netscape's plugins subfolder.

Use Netscape!

Important!e-Calculus works best using Netscape. Whereas Microsoft Internet Explorer does work with the Adobe Acrobat plug-in, it does not handle named destinations in other pdf files correctly. Consequently, when I give a cross reference to another pdf document, Explorer simply goes to page one of the referenced document and not to the referenced destination in that file---this defeats the purpose of hypertext linkage. Therefore, for your reading pleasure, please use Netscape. (Now if you end up on page one of some document, you can't blame me.)

Update. (12/19/97) I've just tested the IE using the Adobe Reader3.0;. IE now properly jumps to named destinations; it is "safe" to use with the Reader 3.01. Note: Netscape still works more smoothly than IE when it comes to viewing pdf files though.

Advertisement. Like what you see here? Want others to know about e-Calculus? Why not download my advertisement flyer, print it, and post it in your favorite location where Calculus students congregate..

Start!

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Don't forget to sign the Guestbook after you browse the site, or after you begin your study! Note: Signing the guestbook is not required.

New!

(4/13/02) I have started what I am calling the "AcroTeX Online Assessment Center". Currently the assessment has some practice exercises in elementary differentiation. Check it out, I would value any comments you might have.

(6/10/99) Uploaded a slide show demonstration of Newton's Method. This demo is meant for classroom presentations.

(5/6/99) Published two LaTeX packages for people who want to create interactive exercises and quizzes similar to what I do in the e-Calculus tutorial. See the webeq.html startup page.

(11/6/98) Just uploaded the e-Calculus tutorial with an experimental index system. The main index is located in the file c1_menu.pdf, each topic, functions, limits, continuity, differentiation, and integration, have their own (local) index. Because the topics are scattered about in different files, there is a "file identifier" that precedes the page number; the meaning should be obvious. The topics contained in the indexes are "experimental", I have not made a serious effort at inserting index markers. (That will come later, when e-Calculus is "complete".) Check out the index system and report any bugs, comments, critcisms, witticisms, footnotes or remarks you may have. dps

(10/28/98) WebTrig is here. A colleague of mine, Dr. Thomas E. Price, Jr., has written a tutorial on trigonometry.

(9/24/98) Web site advertisement, advert.pdf. (For Download this poster, print it, and post it where interested people can see it.

(7/29/98) PDF Flash Cards: Elementary Arithmetic generates random arithmetic problems (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division); the operation is user selectable. There is also a timing device for drilling against the clock. Running totals and success percentages are maintained as well.

(6/5/98) Pdfmarks: Links and Forms: Two part article on how to create the hypertext links and other special effects seen at this website. Very technical. For those who want to develop their own sites using the same techniques as I use.

(4/9/98) A PDF Calculator by Hans Hagen. Very nice! Uses Forms 3.5. Best run "off-line."

(1/7/98)quiz1_q.pdf. An on-line calculus quiz in the pdf format that uses CGI programming to mark the quiz and to send the graded and correct quiz back to the user. Try it out! (And report any glitches.)

(12/21/97) The Giants of Calculus is a two-column matching game with questions on six of the great names in Calculus, indeed, in all of Mathematics. Click here for more information.

(12/1/97) Algeboard, inspired by the work of Gary Cosimini of Adobe. An Algebra Quiz Board Game. Try it, test yourself! Click here for more information on Algeboard.

Why TeX and why AMS-TeX? The goal of the tutorials was to have textbook quality typesetting. AMS-TeX has a broad collection of mathematical typesetting macros that makes life easy. I did not use LaTeX. Plain TeX combined with AMS-TeX gave me the ability to write highly specialized formatting macros without being forced into a finite collection of packaged formats.

TeX Compiler and Previewer

Some of the goals of these tutorials were to have color fonts, hypertext link capabilities for cross-referencing as well as textbook quality typesetting. After looking around for what was available (freeware, shareware, and payware), I settled on the Y&Y TeX System. This was the only system that had all the stated features---and then some.

I found that the people at Y&Y were extremely cooperative. They worked with me and added in some additional features that I argued were important and needed. Without their help the initial phase of the project could not have progressed nearly as fast as it did.

As a consequence of the high quality of the Y&Y product, I have been able to develop on-line tutorials in Calculus that have a high degree of interactivity (also one of the goals of the project). On my Department's local network, students used the DVIWindo to view the tutorials.

One of the problems with the concept of an on-line tutorial was that the students had to come into the computer labs to read the tutorial. Early on, students asked me if the tutorials were available over the `net; my answer, an emphatic: "No!"

Fortunately, the people of Y&Y anticipated the directions of TeX publication. They had already begun to work on the problem of porting PostScript files produced by their TeX compiler to the Portable Document Format of Adobe. This again made it very, very easy to move portions of the tutorial to the net. See the next point.

Given that the basic goals of the project are still valid, the natural choice of document format was PDF. Y&Y's DVIPSONE automatically converts the hypertext links within the dvi file to pdfmarks. Hence, converting from dvi to pdf was a painless (almost) task. Within DVIWindo, we print the dvi file to Adobe's Distiller Assistant. The Assistant calls the Distiller to convert the file to the pdf format. A one-step process!

Some of the interactivity is lost however. As I learn more about Acrobat and it's capabilities, perhaps all the tricks that I used for the dvi files can eventually be ported to the pdf format.

Algeboard is a Jeopardy-like game written in TeX and converted to PDF using the Acrobat Distiller. Acrobat Exchange was used only to optimize the file for the internet.

How did I do it? By using pdf marks. All links are, in fact, form field buttons. Some of the buttons perform multiple tasks. These multiple tasks can be performed by using the /Next <<action>> key word pair. (See pdfspec documentation.)

You can play Algeboard on-line or off-line.

Create Your Own Game Offer. I would be willing to build a limited number of games for teachers who may want to create their own categories and questions. If you are interested in having a version of this game for your own classroom needs, contact me for details.

The game highlights some basic facts about Newton, Leibniz, Euler, Gauss, Cauchy, and Riemann.

To create a two-column format with n items in each of two columns, you need 3n underlying form fields to control things. When you click on an item in the left-hand column, the act of clicking activates n fields in the right-hand column: one field is the correct answer field and the rest are incorrect answer fields.

The game is a "stand-alone," which means you can use it off-line for personal use or in the classroom.

Configuring your Browser for e-Calculus

Graphics Viewers:

I utilize graphic files in the tiff format for two purposes: (1) To display graphs and pictures that illustrate the points under discussion, and (2) To display messages to the user---this is used for the interactivity part of the tutorial.

You need a (external) helper application for viewing these tiff files.

Windows 95. The one I use for my Windows 95 based system is a free viewer that extends quikview.exe, a program that comes with the operating system. The file you want is called ImgView. It is freely available from PCMag from their Downloads Homepage. Download ImgView and install it. (Be sure to install the tiff viewer.) Configure your browser to use quikview, which is located in c:\windows\system\viewers subdirectory, as the helper application to use with viewing tiff files. (Note: If you do not have the quikview.exe, you can download it from Microsoft; or, if not found at that Url (due to reindexing of the site), go to the Microsoft homepage and search on the key word "quickview".

Windows 3.x. I recommend ACDSee16. Configure your (Netscape) browser to use ACDSee16 as a helper application when viewing tiff files.

Advice Needed.

I would very much be interested in hearing (reading) your comments and suggestions. I have many, many ideas on how I want to develop e-Calculus, but I am interested in your first impressions and suggestions as to the future. Naturally, I will eventually be including some material on Computer Algebra Systems. Our department uses Maple V, Version 4.

I want to include a lot more graphical objects, but have not come across the "ideal" software product. Perhaps someone out there can make a recommendation. My operating system is Windows 95. Need a graphing program to create high-quality graphics (textbook quality) with the ability to place text material on the graph. Must be able to export to the .tiff format and have the capability of doing animation, and exports the animated frames to a gif format. (Am I asking for too much?)

I have played around with trying go port animation frames for Maple. Takes too much time. When you want to develop (potentially) hundreds of animations, you want the process to be a little more automated than what I have been able to come up with Maple. Any suggestions?

Current Work

(6/26/97) Actively working on an brief review of algebra. This review will be used by students entering The University of Akron to prepare for our Math Placement Test II. I've got a bit of a deadline to get it done in, so watch for it within two weeks---If I don't collapse first!

(6/26/97) As a result of the previous point, the time schedule for the next two points has been set back. :--{)

Working on applications to differentiation and integration.

Working on rewriting my tutorial on Maple...updating it from version 3 to 4.

Hopefully, I'll be done with these two by the end of the Summer of 1997. (6/27/97) If I keep up this pace, I will collapse!

What's New

(1/31/98) Uploaded a_qbn1j.pdf. This new version of Algeboard, which uses Acrobat Forms 3.5., uses Javascript programming to keep score as you answer the questions. You must have installed Acrobat Forms 3.5 for the game to work properly. Report any bugs in the programming to me please.

(4/29/97) Uploaded Applications to Integration. There is only section right now; it covers the topic of area between two curves. In this section, I introduce the Method of Rules. I would be very much interested in the opinions of professional educators on this presentation. (Students too!)

(1/18/97) Uploaded e-Calculus to the Net.

Site Map

For return visitors who want to jump directly to a topic of interest, here is a listing of the files.

Should you find it necessary, you can download the tutorial to a local hard disk and use it locally; however, there are some caveats.

The tutorial is setup for the Web and so many of the brown links are relative path URL's...they will not work on a local hard disk. Some brown links will work: The ones that simply load a pdf file; it is the links that have a named destination that will not work. All of the green links will work.

Additionally, you will lose all messages that pop-up with `funny messages.' All graphics are lost too.

These are natural limitations put on the system by the Acrobat application. Loading a file works the same whether on the Web or on a local system; jumping to a named destination in another pdf file requires one set commands for the Web and an entirely different set of commands for a local disk system. It is a bit of a nuisance because the tutorial is available locally at The University of Akron; consequently, I must recompile all files twice, once for the web and again for a local disk system.

The tutorial is undergoing constant change; downloading the tutorial immediately outdates it! What you see here is my `first time through.' Over the next year, I'll re-read the entire tutorial, re-write it, add new exercises and examples, more figures, better explanations etc, etc, and, of course, etc.

The Web system works very well at The University of Akron---the access time in my office is quite acceptable. Should you be interested, I might consider allowing other universities mirror this site, in this way the tutorial will be a greater pleasure (more than it already is :--) ) to use.